WHEN Kay Dunne walked out of the Four Courts in December 1989, a woman asked her was she going to go on a giant shopping spree. She blinked in disbelief. Her son, William, aged seven, had just been awarded £400,000 for brain damage he suffered at birth.
Seven years later, after one of the most famous legal compensation battles, William is in his mid teens. Thanks to his parents and the guidance of the Wards of Courts Office, his future care looks secure.
Ms Duane and her husband, Willie, built a specially designed house on which a quarter of the award was spent and they look after their son's care. Ms Duane's only worry was about something happening to them so they are insured.
Caring for William would cost at least £30,000 a year. Without wise financial advice and their own 24 hour care for the last 14 years, the compensation would have been virtually spent by now. William is expected to live for another 50 years.
Ms Duane says the Ward of Courts Office has been brilliant. "Basically, they're the ones that us the financial advice." The money is invested securely by the office in William's name.
Today's Law Reform Commission report is an attempt to take the crystal ball out of the courtroom. Under the current system, a lump sum is awarded on the basis of an unknown future.
Mr Colm Whooley, from the Spinal Injury Action Association in the National Rehabilitation Centre, says Lottery winners are often given better financial advice than people who get compensation. He knows of a case where a person who got an award last year has now nothing left and had to persuade the health board that they needed a medical card.
